South Korea's Supreme Court has ruled that a sports federation rule permanently barring coaches who receive suspensions of a year or more for violence from registering again is invalid, finding that it excessively infringes on the constitutional freedom to choose an occupation.
The first division of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Cheon Dae-yeop, recently upheld a lower court ruling that partially favored the plaintiff, a university soccer team head coach identified as A, in his suit against the Korea Football Association seeking to invalidate his disciplinary action, legal sources said on the 5th.
A pushed the neck and chest of a head referee while protesting calls after a national tournament semifinal in November 2022. The association's fair play committee then suspended him for one year, citing violence against a referee and excessive protest of officiating decisions.
After the one-year suspension ended, A applied in December 2023 to register as a coach with the association, but the association refused, citing a revised registration rule that bars anyone disciplined with a suspension of a year or more for violence by a body affiliated with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. A filed suit seeking to void the suspension and to confirm that he was qualified to serve as a coach under the association.
The trial and appellate courts found the disciplinary action itself justified but ruled that the registration provision, which uniformly and permanently excludes anyone suspended for a year or more for violence, was invalid. The appellate court said anyone disciplined with a suspension of a year or more for violence by a body affiliated with the sport committee would be permanently barred from registering as a coach without any exception, which it said could not be considered reasonable and excessively restricted the plaintiff's freedom to choose an occupation. The court also found the provision out of balance compared with cases in which a person sentenced to imprisonment or a heavier penalty is given a fixed end date for the registration restriction.
The Supreme Court upheld that finding. The court said a coach involved in violence would likely be barred from registering forever, barring special circumstances such as receiving a lighter penalty than the disciplinary standard, regardless of the specific circumstances of the assault — its severity, cause, course, motive and whether damages were remedied — and regardless of how closely the violence relates to the trust and qualities required of a coach, leaving a persistent risk of a marked imbalance between the degree of responsibility for the violence and the resulting disadvantage. The court added that the registration provision excessively infringes on the constitutional freedom to choose an occupation and should be considered invalid under Article 103 of the Civil Act and related provisions.
